When one strings together the words “Bishops” and “rugby”, you are left with a term that is synonymous with rugby in its purest, running form. The coast-to-coast, highly skilled, keeping-the-ball-alive form of rugby has long earned many a rave review from neutrals all around the country.

After a month long voting session that garnered more than 30 000 votes the visitors to SA Schools Sports voted for the BEST Sports Arena in South Africa. And the winner with more than 50% of the vote was the Piley Rees field at Bishops in the Western Cape.

For much of the year the race for the No.1 spot was a three horse race with Waterkloof taking the early lead with a powerful start to the first term and going into the last month of the season it looked like the Pretoria team might have done just enough to secure the top spot for 2013.

With the start of the final cricket season of 2013 there is plenty of cricket that is about to be squeezed into a few very competitive months and if the weather plays the game we are in for a treat of schoolboy cricket.

A season of some of the world’s best school boy rugby has all but come to a close and for the players who ran out for the last time for their school they will be left with that supreme pride that comes from wearing their teams badge and playing to their best ability. A memory that will live with them for decades.

It was a tightly fought season which saw three teams vying for the top spot almost from the start of the season and at various stages all three, Affies, Outeniqua had a taste at being the number one side in the country.

However it is perhaps fitting that it is Affies who can lay claim to the top team in South Africa after completing the season without being defeated, without drawing and winning every single match. It is a supreme effort by a side that played the country’s most powerful teams and still remained competitive scoring heavily in most of their matches.

It is perhaps a pity that somewhere along the line Affies and Paarl Gim never met, as on paper there was very little to choose between the two teams, however Gimmies were held to a surprise draw by Oakdale in what was their only ‘blemish’ on an otherwise spotless season so perhaps finishing in second spot is justified.

A strong finish by Grey College, after an indifferent start to their season put pressure on Outeniqua for the third spot, but the consistency of Outeniqua helped them to finish in the Top three after suffering just the one defeat at the hands of Paarl Gim.

It was another great season and our thanks to the thousands of players, coaches and the avid fans of schoolboy rugby that showed sustained interest in the rankings, offered advice and suggestions and supported us. Rankings are not an absolute science but by factoring in the strength of the opponents, margin of victories and the actual results it is hoped that a team’s current form can be judged.

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The top five all recorded wins over the weekend which ensured that their positions didn’t change and it is a pity that the much anticipated Kearsney v Maritzburg College had to be cancelled due to a flu epidemic.

Please note that two outstanding results for Pretoria Boy’s High have been included which had a small bearing on this week’s rankings. This weekend there is the big “Battle of the Jukskei” when Pretoria Boy’s meet St. John’s College which will give both teams a chance to move up the table.

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There is some massive hockey taking place this week and it is the Girl’s in particular that will be very busy with several high profile matches on the go and the much anticipated ISSF Festival taking place in Pietermaritzburg.

Affies didn't play this weekend which gave their players what many would say was a well earned break after playing several gruelling matches on the trot. Even though this was apparently not Affies choice they did get the opportunity to recharge the batteries for a demanding season that lies ahead.

A highly successful KZN tour by Rondebosch Boy’s High which saw the Cape outfit thrashing Maritzburg College, earning a solid win against Michaelhouse and drawing against Northwood has helped boost them into the Top 10.

The hockey season has exploded into a very tight contest this season with several teams causing some shock results against the traditionally stronger teams. The many festival matches that have been recently played were hotly contested and allowed us to get a feel for the type of form in the teams.

Never before in the history of South African school rugby will the Easter weekend have such a plethora of matches on the go from all quarters of the country!

Kearsney College, St. John's College, King Edward VII and St.Stithians College will all be once again hosting their annual festivals and they will be joined by Krugersdorp High and Tygerberg High who will be hosting the Tony Stoops Tournament and nobody is going to forget the big Maritzburg College 150th Festival either.

Take a look at the fixtures and results as they come in from the field of play!

Saturday the 23rd March, 2013 saw the 1st XV play one of the oldest schoolboy derbies in South Africa as they ran out against Bishops from Cape Town on Lower. It was the first home match for the 1st XV and a tough assignment so close to their last encounter a narrow win over Pearson at the Graeme College Rugby Day.

The 1st XV however were well and truly up for the match and hit the ground running putting the visitors under immediate pressure. After a couple of goes at the line captain Sintu Manjezi crashed over for the first score and College hit the lead 7-0. Soon after College forced Bishops to carry the ball over their goal line after a well-placed box kick from Jason Baggott. The resulting scrum allowed the team to apply more pressure before some good passing allowed Robbie Ball to crash over for College’s second try. Ryan Horne again ensured the conversion as the score stretched to 14-0. In a matter of minutes College were at it again after a stolen ball at the lineout on the Bishops line the forwards drove the ball up allowing Tyler Paul to extend the College lead to 21-0 after 20 min. Bishops however are a proud team and came back fighting for the rest of the half. At times they had the College defence stretched but it held firm as they were kept scoreless going into half time.

The second started much the same as the first, but College could not finish their opportunities as well as they had in the first and this allowed Bishops to fight their way back into the match. Bishops playing their familiar brand of fast paced rugby through the ball around and it was only due to some magnificent defence by the proud College team. Their 1st try came in somewhat fortuitous circumstances as the ball bounced in Bishops’ favour allowing the wing in under the poles. Soon after Bishops created another opportunity and were in for another converted try, the game suddenly in the balance after the great start by the College team as the score moved to 21-14 with 10 min to play. This try seemed to spur the College team back into life and after some more ferocious defence Tyler Paul received the ball in midfield and powered his way over for a brilliant try, 28-14 to College with mere minutes to play.

Bishops would add another try to create a thrilling finish to an outstanding match of schoolboy rugby. College eventually running out deserved winners 28-21. Well done to the 1st XV and to Bishops for providing such a wonderful spectacle.

Rondebosch welcomed traditional rivals Bishops to Cricket A on Saturday. Persistent rain on Friday meant the wicket had a little moisture in it and a greenish tinge to the grass, which persuaded Bishops to insert the hosts upon winning the toss.

A thumping victory by Rondebosch over Bishops sees them edge ever closer to the number one spot as the season draws to an end and it underlines the depth of the ‘Bosch to be competing at the very top for the past three years.

For many teams it was the first match of the season but already there are some positive signs that the coaches and players have put in some serious off season training with some spectacular rugby predicted for the season.

Although the usual suspects continue to show why they are at the very top of school rugby it is encouraging to see the traditionally small teams stepping up and we can expect not a few surprises this season.

There was considerable movement on the table over the past week as most of the teams were engaged in numerous matches in a short space of time which tested the depth of the various sides.

Waterkloof who were the finalists against Rondebosch in the Coke T20 Challenge cling on to the top spot although the gap between them and the rest has shrunk appreciably. Affies take the second best slot thanks to a win against Waterkloof and a good showing during the Independent Schools Festival. Rondebosch who are now the champions of the T20 format, deservedly get back into the top three and had it not been for their surprise loss against St.Andrew’s Bloem they could have been challenging for the No.1 position.

One of the big movers is St.Andrew’s College who are now on a seven match winning streak and they burst into the Top 10 after enjoying an excellent week which included a stunning nine wicket win over Affies. St.Alban’s also have put together some good results and went undefeated at the Independent School’s Festival . Paul Roos Gym also break into the Top 10 after stretching their winning streak to four matches which has included brushing aside Wynberg twice.

The equation used for these rankings are not based purely on a win/loss ratio and in order to grade the various wins against stronger or less stronger teams a formula has been used to give as realistic evaluation of the team’s form. Click here to see how the rankings are worked out.

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A beautiful day in Cape Town set the scene for the Day/Night fixture between these schools and the schoolboys turned out in numbers to support their cricketers. Rondebosch won the toss and had no hesitation in electing a bat on a wicket that looked like it would be slow and take some turn. The Bosch openers took their time getting set but then in the 5th over Riaz Sader went on the attack, hitting 4 boundaries and giving the innings some impetus. Bishops turned to their spinners early in the piece and Van As and Jones created pressure through some tight bowling resulting in the wicket of Christensen being caught and bowled by Jones with the score on 45.

Hayes van der Berg joined Sader and the pair progressed to 60 before Sader also fell to Jones, bringing Zubayr Hamza to the crease in his 100th match for Rondebosch. The pair showed their experience as the worked the bowling around until Wilson trapped Hamza in front for 22. Murray Commins joined his captain and the duo continued the good work and at 169 for 3 with 6 overs of the 45 still remaining it seemed as if Bosch would post in the region of 220. Jones and Julius had other ideas - Julius bowled Commins for 34 and Jones had Van der Berg caught and bowled for 53 in the next over. A spectacular collapse followed which saw Bosch being bowled out for 186 in the final over. Jones was the standout performer for Bishops with 6 for 32 in his 9 overs.

The Bishops run chase was hampered by the loss of wickets up front in the face of some penetrative bowling from the Bosch seamers and at 51 for 4 the scales were tipped firmly in the favour of the visitors. Daniel Lombard and Jordan Flax were not however prepared to lie down and built an impressive stand. Lombard (41 off 40 balls) in particular began to attack the Bosch bowlers and it seemed that Bishops would replicate their recent successful run chases against Grey PE and SACS. Jay Stevens returned to the attack and managed to rush Lombard in to a pull shot and soon afterward Flax (31) was run out by a brilliant direct hit from Zubayr Hamza and the writing was on the wall for Bishops.

The tail battled bravely, but Hayes van der Berg (3 for 22) proved too much at the death and Bishops were bowled out for 160, giving Rondebosch a 26 run victory. Riaz Sader (1 for 29 off 9), Kay Skovgaard-Peterson (2 for 25) and Jay Stevens (2 for 22) will all be very happy with their efforts with the ball.

The match was an intriguing affair, played in a good spirit and with a healthy competitive edge – indicative of the excellent relationship enjoyed by these two schools.

With the cricket season now in full swing this week produced some solid performances from the strong teams but there was also a suggestion that the playing fields are fairly level with no clear favorite to claim the top spot at this stage.

Check out the results as they come in here:

Please send us any of your teams scores and reports and we will ensure our 1000’s of visitors to the website each day will hear about them!

So how are the rankings worked out? In consultation with a panel of analysts and statisticians a formula was agreed upon which would allow as realistic a representation of a team’s current form as possible. In essence the formula works as follows:

At the start of the year teams are “seeded” based on how they finished last season. They are seeded from 10 to 1 with 10 going to the teams that are judged the strongest. (This seeding is adjusted after the first term and at the end of the year depending on how well the teams finish.)

Points are awarded for “Win”, drawn matches and teams are also awarded “Bonus Points”. The “bonus points” are awarded depending on the margin of victory that has been obtained. 10 bonus points are given for a 10 wicket win and a 100 or more runs win, 9 bonus points for a 9 wicket win and 90 run win etc.

However in order to grade the win the particular “seeding” of each team plays a part. For example: Paarl Boy’s (seeded 9) beat Pinelands (seeded 7) by 100 runs. Paarl Boys are therefore awarded points for the win, however instead of receiving 10 bonus points for winning by 100 runs, they get 10 points x 0.7 (Pineland’s seeding of 7) = 7 bonus points. If Pinelands were seeded 6 the bonus points for Paarl Boy’s would be 10 x 0.6 = 6 bonus points. This helps to grade the win which was against a weaker team and therefore Paarl Boy’s do not get the full allotment of 10 points. However the converse is also true. If Pinelands (seeded 7) beat Paarl Boy’s by 100 runs, their bonus points would be 13 because they beat a team that was seeded 10. The weaker team is therefore rewarded for beating a higher seeded team.

The win points and bonus points are divided by the matches played to give an average which ultimately ranks the team. Statistics of course only can tell half the story although we do believe that having a quantitive formula and not just relying on a “Win ratio” model is a fairer reflection of the strength of teams.

We are continually looking to improve and tweak the formula and welcome your input. Thank you to the literally hundreds of emails from players, coaches and fans and your unending suggestions, your support and interest is greatly appreciated.

A great victory by St.Stithian’s over Affies was perhaps the biggest upset of the weekend although Saints have proved to be a more than capable side this year and the result was not all together unexpected.